ReelBrew: Sorry about the rant. I did not read your post closely enough. I am sorry for the loss of your boatmate.

The condition of our military has been disgraceful for years. I do understand about sovereignty and the projection of power in Canadian territorial waters. However, here's a bit of a read that speaks loudly and poorly of our people in Ottawa--both military and civilian, and loudly and eloquently about the courage and fortitude of our soldiers, sailors and airforce personnel.




Victoria Class Submarines
By Peter Haydon

According to some, the Canadian Navy has a serious submarine problem. For instance, Scott Taylor wrote in the Halifax Herald on Monday 9 December, 2002 thought it was "Time to cancel purchase of sub-par subs". His article is worth repeating in full because it shows very clearly how a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

    Ever since the Canadian government announced in 1998 that it was entering into a lease-to-own contract for four used British submarines, mishaps and delays have plagued the project.

    After only three years in service with the Royal Navy, the Upholder-class diesel-electric submarines were mothballed by the British in 1994. Although the leasing arrangement had been negotiated around this time, it took another four years for Prime Minister Jean Chretien's cabinet to approve the purchase.

    Everyone in Canadian naval planning circles realized that some refurbishment would be required to make the Upholders seaworthy again. But no one foresaw the magnitude of the work that would actually be involved.

    Although the Upholders are newer than the 40-year-old Oberon-class boats that our sailors used to operate, the British subs had never been on the navy's wish list as a replacement. It was common knowledge that the Brits were having a lot of teething trouble with their Upholder design. Meanwhile, the Dutch, German, French, Swedish and Australian navies were all developing superior submarines.

    But the Liberal government decided it would be far cheaper to buy used, unreliable subs as opposed to new efficient ones, and the deal was done.

    It was only when our submariners began to take possession of the British subs that things really began to unravel. Numerous embarrassing media reports surfaced about the project: all the hulls needed extensive re-welding, the British had sealed up torpedo tubes to prevent leaking, and it was discovered that at least one of the Upholders had a bent frame (indicating the sub had been involved in an undisclosed collision).



The above is the shit we bought.

Read the rest at

www.naval.ca/article/haydon/ Victoria_Class_Submarines.html